''The Lost Prince'' is a novel by British-American author
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...
, first published in 1915.
Plot summary
This book, a
Ruritanian romance
Ruritanian romance is a genre of literature, film and theatre comprising novels, stories, plays and films set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, such as the "Ruritania" that gave the genre its name.
Such stories are typ ...
for children,
is about Marco Loristan, his father, and his friend, a street urchin called "The Rat". Marco's father, Stefan, is a Samavian patriot working to overthrow the cruel dictatorship in the kingdom of Samavia. Marco and his father come to London where Marco strikes up a friendship with a crippled street urchin known as The Rat. The friendship occurs when Marco overhears The Rat shouting in military form. Marco discovers he had stumbled upon a club known as the Squad, where the boys drill under the leadership of The Rat, whose education and imagination far exceeds their own.
Stefan, realizing that two boys are less likely to be noticed, entrusts them with a secret mission to travel across Europe giving the secret sign: 'The Lamp is lighted.' Marco is to go as the Bearer of the Sign while The Rat goes as his
Aide-de-Camp (so-named at his own request). The boys encounter many dangers while on this journey.
This brings about a revolution which succeeds in overthrowing the old regime and re-establishing the rightful king. When Marco and The Rat return to London, Stefan has already left for Samavia. They wait there with his father's faithful bodyguard, Lazarus, until Stefan calls. The book ends in a climactic scene as Marco realizes his father is the descendant of Ivor Fedorovitch and thus the rightful king of Samavia.
Setting
No precise location is given for Samavia in terms of real life geography. It is described as having been a small kingdom with a pastoral economy during the Middle Ages, ruled by the House of Fedorovitch. The Fedorovitch were overthrown in the early fifteenth century after a rebellion ended in the regicide of the reigning king and the disappearance of his son, Ivor Fedorovitch, the Lost Prince. During the next five centuries, two great Houses, the Iarovitch and the Maranovitch, fought for control of the kingdom in civil wars similar to the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
. In the 1830s a secret organisation of Fedorovitch supporters was formed. Early in the twentieth century the reigning monarch, King Michael Maranovitch, was assassinated, and civil war broke out as Nicola Iarovitch sought to gain the crown. The Secret Party instead proclaimed Stefan Loristan, descendant of the Lost Prince, king.
References
External links
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1915 American novels
British children's novels
1915 British novels
American children's novels
Novels by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hodder & Stoughton books
Fictional princes
1915 children's books
Novels set in fictional countries
The Century Company books
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